This Friday night I spent the evening at home relaxing, watching makeover shows like “10 Years Younger” and “What Not To Wear.” I suddenly got the inspiration to clean my makeup brushes. All 20 of them. As I stood in front of the sink for about an hour, gently cleaning each and every brush, I couldn’t help but think, “Wow all that was hiding in there? Gross!” I also became well aware of how long I’ve actually held on to many of these tools and how essential they have become in my routine. I thought I would share my top 5 favorites:

1) MAC Cosmetics #187 Duo Fibre Brush (a.k.a. “skunk brush”) – I’m sure you’ve heard about this beloved face brush and its odd dual texture of dense black goat hair and lighter, fluffier white synthetic hair. This tool is a must with airbrush foundation. I usually spray foundation onto a jar lid or the back of my hand, stipple the white part into the foundation, then “buff” onto my face with light, circular motions. The structure is really unique, as it allows color to be picked up by the softer hairs but supported at the denser base.

2) Bare Escentuals Flawless Face Brush – Having acquired a few of these from various BE “Get Started Kits,” I tend to use them a lot. I really love the soft, light, fluffy texture. I have used this brush for mineral makeup but find myself using it for regular applications of face powder more frequently. I use it daily with my Napoleon Pardis Camera Finish Powder Foundation, lightly sweeping across the T zone to eliminate shine. I also use this as a back up blush brush. I find that the shape is perfect for dabbing color onto the apples of the cheeks.

3) Sephora Rounded Smudge Brush – I got this one years ago, when I was much younger and none the wiser. I thought it would be a good crease brush, given the round shape. Every time used it, the bristles were too dense and it almost drew color on, making for a streaky application. Well, duh that’s because its made for smudging liner! I’m not sure of when I actually came to my senses, but I started using it to blend creamy liners. I love that I don’t have to worry about the application because it will smudge out evenly. Sometimes I simply dip it in a brown shadow, then black and use as a liner. It has helped me create various looks from a natural looking almost-not-there liner to smoldering smoky dark eyes.

4) Stila Double Ended Shadow Brush #30 – After my realization that I still needed a crease brush, I found this this double-ended wonder. It really saves time and space in my makeup bag. After using a flat shadow brush to apply color to the lids, I follow up with a darker one in the crease using the fluffier tapered end of this tool. I then dip the denser, shorter end into a pearly white and use as a highlighter on top of brow bones and in the inner corners of the eyes.

5) Eyelash and Brow Wand by Eyes Lips Face – I am a true believer in the philosophy of “you get what you pay for” especially when it comes to skincare and makeup. Several items from e.l.f. have proven to be the exception. This brush is perfect for brushing brows into place or separating lashes after you apply mascara. I actually lost this, and on a whim ended up replacing it with MAC’s #204 Lash Brush for 10 times the price, figuring it would be worth the extra expense because it would be a better brush. Not so. I have found that it performs just the same as M.A.C.’s and holds up to frequent cleaning and “defuzzing.”

Benefit has introduced a new perfume called B Spot. This is their second perfume, the first being Maybe Baby (a name that I love by the way), and for now you can find it on their website until it hits stores later this summer. Their packaging it pretty clever, it features a body map to help you find your “B spot”. The notes sound interesting as well, Benefit’s B Spot features notes of mango, freesia, peony, sandlewood and amber.

What do you think? Does this sound like something you’d try? I’m certainly going to try it when it hits stores.

In my hurry to post about the MAC Family and Friends discount on Monday, I completely overlooked that this product was sold out online before I mentioned it. Might have been helpful for those shopping online, right? Sorry about that but today I’m mentioning it because you should still look for this in stores.

From the moment I opened up this jar, I was intrigued by what I saw inside. I won’t lie, it doesn’t look like something you’d want on your face… it’s dark and gritty but a little grit is good, right? At least it is for me. The granules in this product are a little more powerful than in MAC’s Microfine Refinisher (which is a definite plus for me) so there’s the potential to over-exfoliate skin but it’s easily diluted with a bit of water to something softer. They say it also foams but in all of the times I’ve used it so far, I’ve only seen light foaming once. Either way, this shouldn’t be a deterrent. This product does a good job and the pricing for this is great, you get quite a bit of product for your money here.

You can really go to town and exfoliate your skin with MAC Cosmetics Volvanic Ash Exfoliator but sadly, this product is limited edition so stock up while you can… I’m getting backups for sure.

As part of their Future Earth collection, MAC Cosmetics released a new product called Prep and Prime Microfine Lip Refinisher. It is a lip balm and exfoliator in one with exfoliation on one side and conditioning on the other.

As a conditioner, MAC’s Prep and Prime Microfine Lip Refinisher is a great product, it’s got that MAC vanilla scent we’ve all come to know and love but when you enhance it with exfoliation, it loses it’s magic for me. I like grit, I’m a gritty gal and this product seemed to really lack that on the exfoliation side. I used it for quite a while before I felt it was sloughing anything off of my lips. The exfoliating side just seemed too moisturizing to really do the job well. It didn’t do a whole lot for me, I’ve used other products that did a much better job of prepping and priming them for color like The Body Shop’s Lip Scuff or Tarte’s FRXtion. Each one of these is slightly cheaper so they are definitely worth taking a look at.

That’s not to say the Future Earth collection from MAC doesn’t have something good in it for you. It certainly does, we’ll be taking a look at that tomorrow.

I’ve been wearing Bermuda Shorts on my fingernails this week and I still get a little kick out seeing this shade on my hands, especially in different lights. I tried this out with Essie’s First Base base coat and Essie’s Good to Go top coat so we’ll have reviews on those two products soon.

What shade would you pick? What are you wearing on your nails this week?

Need to stock on your MAC Cosmetics favorites? Today is a good day to do that. For today only, you can save 15% off your purchase and get free shipping when shopping online. Just enter in code MACFF8 to get started.

Looking to try something new? Their new Volcanic Ash Exfoliator is definitely worth trying out (we’ll be reviewing this tomorrow morning).

Attention Beauty Insider members! Sephora now has an exclusive Laura Mercier kit that is only available to their Beauty Insiders. I got all fluttery inside when I saw this.

This Laura Mercier Flawless Face Kit features smaller versions of some of the lines more popular products for only $65. Get acquainted with why the Laura Mercier line is known for their “flawless face” with their Foundation Primer, Tinted Moisturizer, Undercover Concealer, Loose Setting Powder, a velour puff and 2 brushes.

I can’t wait to see this kit in person so I’m ordering this in Nude, I think it would be quicker than waiting for Sephora to stock it in their stores! Cross your fingers that the shades will work for me!